Month: May 2006

Change in Microsoft Vista security system promises Windows migration headaches

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In addition, users with any homegrown authentication mechanisms linked to Windows will have to rewrite their code from the ground up.

ISVs also have to completely rewrite and certify the custom code they write to interface with Winlogon, the Windows process that manages logon and logoff.

The new architecture, called Winlogon Re-Architecture, includes a model for building modules called Credential Provider. The February CTP also was the first time Microsoft included in the release notes the fact that the GINA architecture had been abandoned even though the company had started talking about it at its Professional Developers Conference last September. “There are things built into GINA that are not in the existing Winlogon module you get with the Vista beta,” says the ISV who requested anonymity.

Historically, many corporate users have waited for Service Pack 1 of a new operating system before adopting it.

The ISV says customers with multiple products that hook into GINA will have the most difficult support and migration issues. Another systems integrator says users always have faced this danger with custom code added to Windows. “To extend authentication we need to move away from GINA,” says Austin Wilson, director of product management for Windows client at Microsoft.

http://www.networkworld.com/news/2006/050806-microsoft-vista.html

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Compliance and Security

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We’ve known for a while that meeting regulations (e.g. Sarbanes-Oxley and HIPAA) can be financially draining on enterprises, but the Getronics survey calls attention to underlying security issues.
IT organizations are limited in what they can achieve, and too much compliance work can take away resources from mission of securing the enterprise.

Goodall points out that the money is coming from across several departments, indicating that IT security is not seen as only an IT issue.

http://www.line56.com/articles/default.asp?ArticleID=7592

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Gartner Gives Cautious Nod to Oracle Identity Management

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“Oracle’s acquisition of Thor was a good move because it had no UP product outside of its own Oracle product suite.

Hasan Rizvi, vice president of Security and Identity Management Products for Oracle, said that the company has seen “good customer momentum” based on its original strategy when it entered the identity management arena by purchasing Oblix. That strategy had three parts: provide a complete suite of best-in-class components, to spare customers who were struggling with integrated individual components; help customers with application integration as they struggle to integrate identity management components with business applications such as SAP, PeopleSoft HR and Siebel CRM; and to allow heterogeneous support and standards support in order to facilitate identity management technology deployment.

Oracle plans to announce four new Identity Manager customers on May 9: storage vendor Network Appliance; Gevity, a human resources outsourcing firm; Highmark, an insurance company; and Seguro Popular, a government agency in Mexico.

http://www.eweek.com/print_article2/0,1217,a=177631,00.asp

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New SUSE Linux to debut this week

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Version 10.1 of SUSE Linux is understood to be an important milestone for Novell as it prepares to release the landmark version 10 of its business-focused SUSE Linux Enterprise (formerly known as the Novell Linux Desktop) operating system later this year.

The company’s president Ron Hovsepian has flagged version 10 of the operating system as mature enough to kickstart enterprise deployments in the next 12 to 18 months.

http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/software/soa/New_SUSE_Linux_to_debut_this_week/0,2000061733,39255778,00.htm

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Check Point Pitches UTM Security for Enterprises

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Check Point’s new VPN-1 UTM product line, sold as a package of software applications or loaded into one box as an appliance, is designed to let a company’s remote locations operate using the UTM approach, while allowing central IT administrators to manage and adjust the systems using the same controls offered in Check Point’s enterprise security products.

“We’re trying to help solve the problem of security sprawl, as customers have all kinds of security applications deployed at different points throughout their operations and this is hurting their ability to manage their defenses consistently and easily,” said Bill Jensen, product marketing manager at Check Point, headquartered in Ramat Gan, Israel. “Enterprises have started looking at UTM and want a mixture [of applications] to help manage regional offices, but unless you can find a way to integrate UTM with the best-of-breed software that companies are running in their central security operations, you’re just introducing a new type of management headache,” he said. Jensen said Check Point’s new package allows administrators to conduct the same types of systemwide scans and maintenance work they already perform while pushing out any updates or policy changes to the distributed UTM systems automatically.

VPN-1 UTM includes intrusion prevention and anti-virus applications as well as an SSL [Secure Sockets Layer] VPN, network and Web-applications firewalls, and host-checking capabilities. Check Point said the VPN-1 UTM software package will retail at a starting price of $2,000.

http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1958282,00.asp?kc=EWRSS03119TX1K0000594

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